


Trouble in Paradise

by SpaceShaolin



Category: Teen Top (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 04:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7252438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceShaolin/pseuds/SpaceShaolin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Western AU) The sleepy, no-good town of Paradise braces for action against the Deadly Jo Brothers. But that’s if Mayor Ricky can drag his lazy sheriff out of the bar first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trouble in Paradise

The story begins in a town named Paradise, although it was anything but. Paradise was widely considered, even by its own residents, to be the backend of the world, and the only reason it was named this way was because of its mayor, Ricky.

Ricky was the only optimistic member left residing in Paradise, as all the happier ones had left in search of actual paradises. Mayor Ricky strongly believed that the town really had some potential, and that its citizens, his Angels, would help unlock it all. Unfortunately, he was the only one who thought this way.

Even Deputy Niel, who worked with the town’s sheriff, had his doubts about bringing Paradise out of its sad, pathetic depths and ushering it into a new age of hope. It was supposed to be the sheriff’s sworn duty to look after the town and its residents, but because Paradise’s sheriff was a lazy drunkard, it fell to Niel to pick up the slack as far as law enforcement was concerned.

He still hung around Paradise anyway. Niel was a man who was strict with his morals, so even if he did most of the work, he remained loyal to his boss and to Paradise.

And besides, somebody really needed to look after the sheriff.

The sheriff, who was also the laziest man in the West, was named C.A.P., and when he wasn’t giving Niel a headache at their office, he could usually be found at The Bar. The Bar was C.A.P.’s second office. It was also his second home, his second toilet, his second everything – but never his second love. His affair with The Bar was a love that was reciprocated by its bartender, Chunji.

Nobody knew why C.A.P. liked to drink so much. Niel blamed it on a girl. Ricky suspected a dark and traumatic past. Chunji didn’t really care less, because C.A.P. never failed to pay what he owed. C.A.P. was good business for Chunji.

“Who cares about all that stuff? As long as he pays, he’s in the clear,” he said.

“You money-hungry leech,” Ricky accused.

“Some people like to kill others in shoot-outs. Others like to hold up banks,” Chunji explained. “So what if he likes to drink whiskey?”

“You only think about your business,” Ricky said.

“C.A.P. is an outstanding moral citizen who is a regular patron of this establishment, and never forgets to pay for anything,” Chunji said. “We should be admiring the guy, not crucifying him.”

Ricky scoffed. “Says the rich bartender.”

Chunji nodded. “Says the rich bartender. You catch on quick, Mayor.”

“You know, if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t even have the money to pay you in the first place.”

“I’m aware and I’m thankful. Really, what would us Paradise Angels do without our Mayor Ricky?”

“Shut up, you insincere prick. I know it’s useless to say this to you at this point, but we shouldn’t leave alcoholic men alone. Who knows what he thinks about when he’s drinking? Don’t you think there’s something behind that?”

Chunji pretended to think about this and shrugged. “Maybe he’s just really concerned for my well-being. What a great guy, always thinking about other people.”

“I’m still here, you idiots,” C.A.P. grumbled from his stool. 

“C.A.P.!” Ricky cried, suddenly remembering why he was here.

The sheriff groaned and lifted his head off the bar. “What?” he said, then straightened in his seat a little as soon as he saw Ricky.

“Is it true the Jo Brothers are on their way here?”

C.A.P. scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Well, my deputy might have said something about it…”

Ricky put his head in his hands. “Ah, so it’s true then,” he moaned. “We’re all done for.”

“Hey, relax, Mayor. We can handle it.”

“My drunk sheriff can handle it. Yeah, sure.” Ricky laughed.

“Lighten up, Mayor. Here, have a drink,” Chunji said, sliding a drink over to him.

“That isn’t going to help.” Ricky frowned. “Seriously, we’re all possibly screwed and you try to give me a drink?”

Chunji shrugged. “Why else would I set up a bar in the middle of this hopeless town?”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it, man. The drinks help me take my mind off things.” C.A.P. reached for the glass Ricky was ignoring.

“Well, don’t drink yet until the Jo Brothers get here!” Ricky grabbed his glass and downed everything in one shot.

Chunji whistled. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Ricky.”

“Just because I look like this doesn’t mean I can’t drink.” He stood up, adjusted his belt, and started walking towards the door. “Take care of it. You’re the town’s sheriff, so this one’s yours.”

“Lucky me.” C.A.P. sighed and dropped his head back on the counter.

Chunji smiled sympathetically and poured him another drink.

“Look on the bright side,” he said. “Whether you screw up or not, you’ll never have to deal with the Jo Brothers again after this.”

C.A.P. scowled up at him. “Yeah, but then I’ll be dead. Which means nobody’ll drink here ever again.”

“You’re not the only customer I have here in this hopeless town,” Chunji said. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Ricky and Niel’ll take up the habit to honor your memory anyway.”

“Some friend you are,” C.A.P. said.

Chunji winked at him. “The best.”

* * *

Niel had indeed been warning C.A.P. about the Deadly Jo Brothers for as long as he could remember. Stories about the duo were spreading quickly, and if the rumors were right, it would only be a matter of time before they hit Paradise next.

With only two Jo Brothers and two officers in Paradise, Niel thought they might be able to actually stand a chance. But that was only if Sheriff C.A.P. got his act straight and quit drinking altogether.

Niel snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, and then maybe a horse will fly,” he said to himself. He crossed his feet on his desk.

The door opened and from the sound of heavy boots dragging along the floor, Niel already knew who it was without looking up. He threw a lazy salute towards the door without changing his relaxed posture.

C.A.P. nodded back and walked over to his desk. He pulled his drawer open, took out a small flask, and sniffed it before taking a gulp. Now newly refreshed, he took off his hat and sat down in his chair. He looked over at his deputy.

“Kind of early for your special stash,” Niel said.

C.A.P. ignored this. “Saw Ricky in The Bar a few minutes ago. Said he had something important to talk about.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. But that’s not the important part.” He cleared his throat. “You remember those Jo Brothers you kept telling me about?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I talked to the Mayor about them.”

“Finally!” Niel cheered and sat up. Perhaps there was hope for his boss after all.

“Shut up and let me finish.” C.A.P. grunted. “I talked to the Mayor about those Jo Brothers and he told me to tell you to take care of it.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“The Mayor really said that?” Niel said, his eyebrow and his voice rising higher and higher by the second. “Word for word, one hundred percent?”

C.A.P. hesitated. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“C.A.P.!”

“He was implying it, okay?” the sheriff said, fanning himself with his hat nervously. “He told me to take care of it, so now I’m telling you to take care of it.”

“So shouldn’t that be your job then?”

“Them’s the breaks of the game, kid. Hierarchy ladder and glass ceiling and all that. Boss me around when you’re already the boss, that’s how it works. But as of now, this Jo Brothers problem is yours.”

Niel opened his mouth to rebut, but C.A.P. had already beaten him to it.

“No buts!” he said firmly. “You’re in charge now and that’s an order!”

“You’re the sheriff!” Niel said. He was now standing in front of C.A.P.’s desk to prevent him from running out the door in case he was planning it.

“And you’re my deputy. So it follows that I tell you to take care of this.”

“You don’t want to work on this together?” Niel said. “I know I’ve been telling you about them for so long now, but it’s only because I thought you could help.”

“That’s exactly it, isn’t it?” C.A.P. grumbled. “Everyone expects me to do something, but I’m just gonna let you all down in the end. It’s useless, I’m no good.”

Niel rolled his eyes, already used to C.A.P.’s melodrama. “If I buy you a few drinks at The Bar, would that cheer you up? And maybe change your mind?”

C.A.P.’s face immediately lit up at the idea. “It might.” He stood up, swiped his hat off his desk, and put it on his head. “See, this is why I appointed you as my deputy. You always take such good care of me.”

“I thought it was because of my credentials and stunning personality?”

“What credentials? What personality? This is your first crack at law enforcement, isn’t it?” C.A.P. chuckled. “What were you before again? A horse mailman?”

“The Pony Express, you dumb monkey,” Niel said and shoved C.A.P. roughly out the door.

“Yeah, that.”

“And how did _you_ get to be sheriff? Don’t tell me Ricky was just picking out drunkards at random for the job.”

“Shut up, you. You’re a lousy deputy, you know that?”

“I’m a stunning deputy, I’m a lousy deputy. Make up your mind.”

“Shut up already, will you?”

* * *

On the outskirts of Paradise, the Deadly Jo Brothers stood silently in front of the town borders. Both of them were squinting, trying to read the sign there and checking to see if it had any fine print.

“What’s it say? Paradise?” L. Joe said.

Changjo snorted. “What a lame name.”

“Hey, shut up.” L. Joe reached up and slapped the back of his brother’s head. “Remember, we’re not here to cause any trouble, okay? We could use this place.”

“No trouble, yeah, got it.” Changjo nodded. “But if anyone gives _us_ trouble, you know I’ll do something about it.”

L. Joe groaned. “Please don’t. What happened to our discreet approach to things?”

“You mean _your_ discreet approach to things.” Changjo crossed his arms. “I’m a nice guy at heart.”

“Whatever. Now, behave yourself already. We’re going in.”

“I could use something to drink.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“And I don’t mean any of that kiddie stuff either. Okay?”

“I said I’ll take care of it.” L. Joe shook his head. “Will you come on already?”

Changjo smirked and trailed after L. Joe. Giving people trouble was too easy sometimes.

* * *

“You people discredit C.A.P. too much,” Ricky reprimanded, wagging a finger at his audience. “He’s sheriff for a reason.”

“He’s sheriff because no one else wanted the job,” Chunji said.

“I don’t care.” Ricky crossed his arms. “I’m his number one fan.”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve never worked with him,” Niel said.

“Hey, I work with him plenty!”

“Giving him orders and working with him are two different things.”

Chunji poured fresh rounds into their glasses, nodding his head in agreement. “Ah, of course Niel would know what he’s talking about."

“Of course I would. What kind of a subordinate would I be if I didn’t know my own boss?”

Ricky turned to Niel, furious. “You know him, don’t you? I thought you two were friends!”

“Hey, we _are_ friends,” Niel said. “Why are you so desperate to defend him anyway?”

“Look.” Chunji shrugged. “All I know is, he pays me what he owes me. So, I have nothing against him.”

“Ha!”

“That still doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s a lazy ass.”

“The lazy ass is still here, you morons,” C.A.P. grumbled from his stool.

“Good, so you heard all of that,” Niel said and punched C.A.P.’s shoulder. “What are you going to do about it?”

C.A.P. mulled this over, then straightened up in his seat. “I’m a man after all,” he said, a light suddenly coming alive in his eyes. “I have priorities.”

Niel nodded. “That’s right.”

“I have dreams.”

“You got it,” Ricky chimed in.

“Hell, I was gonna make something of myself as Paradise’s sheriff.” C.A.P. was standing now.

“Keep talking, C.A.P.!” Niel also got out of his chair, feeling a tremendous emotion coming on.

“I got responsibilities to fulfill, don’t I?”

“That’s true!” Ricky leapt up from his chair, also caught up in the moment.

“I have an image to uphold.”

“That you do!” Even Chunji was getting in on it now.

“My pride as a man is on the line here!”

“Now you’re talking!” All three men chorused.

“And that’s why…” He looked at his deputy. “Niel!”

“Yeah, sheriff!”

“You’re gonna have to do this on your own.”

“Yeah, sheriff _WHAT?_ ”

“I seriously can’t do this, I’m telling you!” C.A.P. sat back down and put his head in his hands. “I’m too washed-up. Too drunk. Too… me.”

Niel leaned down and fixed his friend with a steady look. “What are you talking about?” he said, grabbing C.A.P.’s head to make some eye contact. “You’re Sheriff C.A.P.! Paradise’s protector! Mayor Ricky’s only hope! Chunji’s number one customer!”

C.A.P. shook his head. “And a lousier cowboy than his deputy, Niel. Come on, who are we kidding here?”

“You can’t chicken out now! They’re almost here!” Niel said. “What would Ricky and Chunji do without you?”

“I know what I would do,” Chunji said. “I’d stop selling you drinks if it meant you got off your lazy behind to actually do some work.”

Ricky gasped. “You wouldn’t.”

Chunji nodded. “I would. You don’t like it?”

Niel shook his head. “It’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” He turned back to the sheriff. “Hear that, C.A.P.? Chunji’s going to stop selling you drinks if you wuss out now.”

“Shut up, I heard him the first time.” C.A.P. pushed Niel away. “I don’t have a choice now, do I? It’s either this or a lifetime of sobriety. I don’t think I’m prepared for that.”

“Wait, why don’t you just move out of Paradise if you love to drink so much?” Niel said out of reflex, already used to countering everything C.A.P. said.

“Shut up, you’re giving him ideas,” Ricky hissed.

C.A.P. shrugged. “Too much work,” he answered and signaled Chunji for another shot.

* * *

Chunji was wiping some extra shot glasses when the doors swung open violently. He looked up and was about to address the newcomers, but stopped when he heard a tinkling sound from The Bar’s old piano.  

“Hey!” he yelled at the rat that was running along the keys. “Get off that!” He chucked his balled-up towel and struck the rat square in the head, causing a dreadful noise on the piano’s lower keys.

The newcomers fidgeted by the door, unused to having their dramatic entrance ignored. The shorter one cleared his throat.

Chunji was still ignoring them as he made his way towards the piano to pick up his towel. “Damn rats,” he muttered under his breath.

“Bartender!”

Chunji finally looked up at the two customers by the door. “Yeah?”

“Whiskey for me and milk for my brother,” L. Joe said and sat by the counter. “Want to talk to the undertaker too.”

“You’re looking at him.”

L. Joe looked at him, dumbfounded. “You’re the undertaker?”

Chunji shrugged. “It’s a small town.”

“Huh.”

“What’d you need an undertaker for anyway?” Chunji winked conspirationally. “Is it ‘cause you’re going to be killing a lot of people?”

L. Joe made a face, like he suddenly drank something sour. “What? No!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Just looking for a job, you know?”

“ _You?_ Looking for a job?” Chunji’s eyes almost bulged out of his face. “What for? You’re the Jo Brothers, aren’t you? I bet you two are rolling around in money all the time anyway.”

L. Joe shook his head. “It’s not what you think.”

The Bar’s doors swung open again and Ricky strode in, looking every inch the authority figure, although he was trying very hard to hide his shaking legs.

Changjo gave him a once-over. “You’re kind of short to be a sheriff.”

Ricky sputtered. “Short?! I’m the Mayor here!”

“You’re kind of short to be a mayor,” Changjo amended.

“See, that’s why nobody takes you seriously,” Chunji said. “It’s your height, Ricky, your height.”

“You shut up, you’re just as tall as I am and you know it.”

Before Chunji could say something back in reply, The Bar’s doors swung open a third time, revealing the threatening sheriff and his deputy standing outside. C.A.P. walked right up to an unimpressed L. Joe, Niel following closely behind.

“State your business.”

“No need to worry about us, sir, we’re just passing through.”

“Oh yeah?” C.A.P. growled. “In my book, ‘passing through’ usually goes a lot quicker than this.”

“What, we can’t drink here and relax a little?” L. Joe said. He jerked a thumb at Chunji. “Besides, your bartender here looks like he could use the extra money. We’re just helping him out a little.”

Chunji squinted his eyes at him. “Did you just call me poor?”

Changjo pointed at the rat that was still passed out on the piano.

“I thought you said you fixed your rat problem,” Niel said, shaking his head in disgust.

“It’s just one rat,” Chunji said, pretending that he couldn’t see the smaller rat scurrying along the window behind Niel.

“Forget about him, he gets along just fine here on his own,” C.A.P. answered. “But you two, I think you’ll be needing a little assistance going to where you belong – jail.”

L. Joe brought his glass down on the counter hard. “We haven’t even done anything yet and you’re going to arrest us already? What kind of justice is this?”

“The kind of justice you get here in Paradise. Now get up and let’s go. We’re moving.”

“Kind of an ironic name you people have here.”

Ricky had something to say about that, but the nasty look on Niel’s face made him shut his mouth.

L. Joe got off his stool slowly. “We’re moving, all right. Just not with you.”

C.A.P. straightened himself and tried to look more menacing. “How do you mean?”

“He means we’re going to settle this outside,” Changjo said, flicking his gun holster open.

“Fine with us,” Niel sneered, bringing out his own gun also.

All four gunmen slowly trudged out of The Bar without breaking eye contact with each other. Ricky and Chunji followed quickly behind them, because this was the most exciting thing to happen in Paradise in weeks, and gunfights of this magnitude demanded an audience.

Outside, the four gunmen stood on opposite sides, facing each other in determined silence. C.A.P. spied a stray tumbleweed from the corner of his eye and waited for it to pass by. Changjo scratched some of the sand out of his eyes.

“Last chance, boys,” C.A.P. said as soon as the tumbleweed made it to the other side. “Gotta warn you though, I’m actually pretty good with this.” He whipped out his guns and spun them round his fingers. One of them fell to the ground.

Niel glanced over at C.A.P. hurriedly picking up his gun. “He’s got it half-right.” He rolled his eyes.

“Half is right,” Chunji muttered from the sidelines. Ricky elbowed him before he could say anything else.

“You listen to my deputy now,” C.A.P. huffed, shoving his pistols back in their holsters. “He knows what he’s talking about.”

L. Joe yawned. “Are you done? Are we ready to go now?”

“Hey, I’m giving you a chance to back out.” C.A.P. pointed a finger. “You should take it and leave.”

“Leave or go to jail? Which one is it? Make up your mind.”

“Okay, that’s it,” C.A.P. growled, completely fed up with people contradicting him left and right. This time, when he reached for his hips, he was careful to bring out one of his pistols first. “Reach for the sky, pardners, or you’ll regret it.”

Beside him, Niel grimaced. “You don’t need to say that, you know.”

“Shut up, pardner.” C.A.P. grunted, adding an extra slur to his tone to sound tougher.

“Hey pardner,” Changjo called, playing along. “Are we doing this or not? Pardner.”

“This pardner gets it.” C.A.P. grinned.

“You’re not so bad for a pardner either.” Changjo gave a little wave.

“Pardner.”

“Pardner.”

Niel slapped C.A.P.’s head. “Cut it out!”

“Pardner, pardner,” Changjo continued to say, even as L. Joe was already pummeling his shoulders.

“Hey, do you even know what that means?” L. Joe demanded.

“Do you?” Niel asked C.A.P.

He shrugged. “All the other sheriffs say it.”

“Pardner.”

Niel threw his hands up in the air. “This is useless.” He pointed a finger at L. Joe. “You, get your gun out. Let’s finish this ourselves if these guys won’t stop playing around.”

“Right.” L. Joe nodded and gave Changjo a pointed glance. “The next guy who says that word one more time’ll really get it.” He drew out his pistol slowly and flicked the safety off.

“Pardner,” Ricky said immediately from the sidelines, feeling a thrilling rush after getting it out of his system.

Chunji whirled on him in blind panic. “Ricky!”

Ricky covered his mouth, realizing his mistake, but it was too late to prevent the Jo Brothers’ guns from going off. Bullets fired everywhere, prompting Ricky to dive for the ground with Chunji. C.A.P. would have joined them on the ground as well, if Niel hadn’t yanked his collar from behind.

After a few seconds of fire and noise, the gunfire ceased and thin trails of smoke wafted out gently from the Jo Brothers’ guns.

C.A.P. and Niel were still standing, although all other nearby infrastructures would have had trouble saying the same thing.

“Are you kidding me?” Niel yelled once the smoke had cleared. “I thought you were the Deadly Jo Brothers?!”

L. Joe and Changjo looked at each other awkwardly.

“You’re even bigger failures than C.A.P. is!”

C.A.P.’s face froze somewhere between pride and confusion.

“It was an insult,” Chunji supplied helpfully from the sidelines.

C.A.P. glowered at Niel and shoved him for the comment. Niel retaliated by pushing C.A.P. back harder.

L. Joe at least had the grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah, but we’re only deadly to ourselves. That’s how we got the nickname.”

Beside him, Changjo scratched his nose.

“What a waste of my time,” C.A.P. grumbled. “Made me warm up my shooting skills when I could have just slept in instead.”

“ _What_ shooting skills?” Chunji said, about to collapse in a fit of laughter at the absurdity of this statement.

L. Joe raised a hand. “We didn’t originally want to be bandits, okay. Look –”

But C.A.P. wasn’t hearing any of it.

“Does nobody in this town seriously understand the value of sleep? How does anyone expect me to do a decent job if I don’t get my forty winks?”

“We’re not bad guys, really, we just wanted to –”

C.A.P. still wasn’t interested. He turned to Ricky.

“And I want a raise too. No, I demand it. A raise for me and my deputy.” He crossed his arms and nodded to himself. “Yeah, that should do it.”

 _“A raise?”_ Ricky hollered. “What for? I already give you two enough allowances as it is!”

“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m fine with my salary.” 

“Fine, so give me Niel’s share of the raise then.” 

“Now wait a minute,” Niel said immediately, not wanting to indirectly fund C.A.P.’s drinking habit.

“If all of you would just let me explain myself.” L. Joe was still trying to remind everyone that he was still there.

“Hey!” Chunji said. “Maybe we should let the Jo Brothers explain themselves.”

Everyone turned to face L. Joe.

He kicked a small stone nervously, unused to having people’s complete and undivided attention. “We don’t mean any harm, okay? We’re not even good bandits in the first place,” he explained. “All we want is a place to settle down in and call home, but everyone keeps turning us down.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” C.A.P. snorted. “Seriously, I gave up my sleep to hear your sob story? I get that everyday at Chunji’s _aaaow._ ”

Niel removed his foot from C.A.P.’s boot and nodded at Changjo.

“Why should we trust you?”

“Because we’re nice?” Changjo said and gave them his best puppy-eyed expression.

Ricky clapped in approval of this cuteness. “Nice, nice.”

“If anything, we just want to find some honest work. Tend a bar, raise some cattle, be an undertaker…” 

“Fix your rat problem.”

L. Joe shoved Changjo. “Anything, as long as we don’t have to use guns at all. We only started carrying these around, because we heard the West was dangerous.”

“Then how come everyone knows you as dangerous bandits?” Chunji asked.

L. Joe glared at his brother. “That’s Changjo’s fault. He keeps getting into fights, because of some little thing. I try to get involved to break it up, but something always happens, that I end up helping him win instead.”

“He’s my bad luck charm,” Changjo said with pride, thumping L. Joe’s back. “With my temper and his bad luck, what could go wrong?”

“Everything, apparently.”

_“What was that?!”_

L. Joe grabbed Changjo’s vest in time before he could lunge at C.A.P.

“You hate guns, so you definitely can’t replace C.A.P. as sheriff,” Niel said.

“Hey, wait a minute,” C.A.P. protested.

Chunji raised a hand. “I’ll let them help me with The Bar. There’s too much work to do there, and I already have my hands full with C.A.P. as it is.” He stuck his tongue out at the pouting sheriff. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Fine with me,” L. Joe agreed.

“I’ll take care of your rat problem, if you want.” Changjo grinned.

“I think I’ll pursue my dream of becoming a professional drunk,” C.A.P. contributed.

“Or you could just switch with Niel and become his deputy instead,” Ricky suggested. “It’ll be like being sheriff, but without the responsibilities.”

C.A.P.’s face lit up at this.

“Ricky’s right,” Chunji added. “I’d trust Niel more with my life than you anyway.”

C.A.P.’s face plummeted back into darkness.

But Niel was shaking his head. “Nah, he can keep being sheriff. I like being a deputy just fine.”

C.A.P. grinned. “Yeah, and besides, I like this little star thing you gave me.”

“So… does this mean we’re off the hook now?” L. Joe asked.

“Oh yeah,” C.A.P. replied, nodding his head. “As long as you’re going to do like you say and work, I’m not gonna put you guys in jail anymore.”

“Wow!” Changjo clapped his hands. “This is the best thing. Thanks, pardner. I like you.”

“Aw shucks. That’s more than Niel ever told me. I like you too, pardner.”

“If you like him so much, why don’t you make him your deputy instead?”

“Is Niel jealous?” Chunji asked everyone. “I think he’s jealous.”

Ricky slapped his back. “Never mind about Niel. You go back inside and get to work. I’m buying drinks for everybody!”

“Wow!” Niel said. Beside him, C.A.P. looked ecstatic. “You’re serious about this, Ricky?”

He shrugged. “There’s always a first for everything.”

Changjo raised a hand. “Can I have none of that kiddie stuff and get a glass of milk instead? It gives me strength.”

C.A.P. opened his mouth to say something about this, but Niel’s sharp elbow cut him off before he could get a word out.

“Shut up, pardner.” He glared at his sheriff, silently daring him to make another wiseass remark. A look of annoyance briefly flashed across C.A.P.’s face, but he laughed instead and gave his deputy a cheery thumbs-up.

“We’ll make a sheriff out of you yet, Niel.”

“As if." He snorted. "I already do all the work around here. What more do you –”

A high-pitched shriek that sounded like Ricky’s came from The Bar, which was quickly followed by the sound of Chunji’s balled-up towel hitting the piano keys again.

“Damn rats!” he yelled.

A gunshot rang out from inside, and then, there was a deafening silence. 

C.A.P. and Niel shared a panicked look and rushed inside, only to find everyone standing around Chunji’s old piano. On its keys lay a rat, still shivering and its hairs all standing on end as a testament to its most recent moment of terror. Above it, a thin trail of smoke was coming out of the bullet hole that was still smoldering on the piano.

“Well,” L. Joe muttered, breaking the silence. “That’s one way to take care of those rats.”

Changjo sheepishly put his gun back in its holster.


End file.
